But back in Cambridge, there was trouble with the neighbors, as Zeckhauser anticipated. The 259,000-square-foot Center for Government and International Studies, for which planning began in 1995, was not completed until 2005; it had to be completely redesigned more than once to appease community concerns, more than quadrupling its price to a reported $140 million.

The first acquisition [in Allston], of a Sears warehouse site, was completed in 1989. Harvard’s Allston holdings grew from 140 acres in 1994 to 354 today,

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, Prince Charles, a speaker at the University’s 350th celebration, noted in a symposium on urbanization that American universities had been very successful in contributing to the health of their host cities, something he hoped might be transplanted to England. Now, with plenty of space to expand and new plans for business and academic development in Allston, Harvard can hope that the prince’s observations about American universities will come true on its own patch of real estate, across the river.

Construction of housing for Harvard faculty and graduate students near Barry’s Corner is expected to provide swing space for graduate students displaced by the impending undergraduate House renovations.

It has been 4 months since renovation started at the former CITGO station. This morning at 9am there wasn't any visible activity at the site and, while there may be great progress being made inside, the exterior is far from ready for a grand opening.

"A plan to make upgrades along 1.5-mile stretch of Commonwealth Avenue between Packard’s Corner and Kenmore Square was one of a dozen state transportation projects that have received a combined $6.1-million in federal grant funding, officials announced Wednesday.

The state’s transportation department received $1 million – the second-largest of the 12 grants awarded to Massachusetts – to pay for resurfacing a section of Commonwealth Avenue, primarily between Alcorn Street and Kenmore Square. The funding will also go toward reconstructing sidewalks, upgrading traffic signals and making other safety improvements along that stretch of roadway"